Don't Choose Your Doctor from the Yellow Pages

If you're in the market to buy a new television, one of the first steps you can take in figuring out whether to buy a particular model is to find and read reviews written by people who have already purchased that television, so you'll know what their experience with it has been. Consumer Reports has built a legion of loyal readers by offering so-called unbiased reporting about millions of products, to allow consumers to make up their minds based on research and opinions provided by other people. When you're deciding what movie to go see, you can read critics' reviews of the current releases before making your choice. So when it comes to any decision, most people value input from people who have already made that decision, so they will have some insider advice before ponying up the money.

This sharing of consumer opinions is what rocketed epinions to a frequent Internet stop for consumers, and it's the driving force behind the reviews of buyers and sellers on sites such as Amazon, eBay, and Half.com. It's invaluable when it comes to considering products. But what about services? Websites providing reviews of services are few and far between, and usually apply to services that might not apply to everyone. But one particular site is offering reviews of services that everyone uses - doctors.

RateMDs is an excellent resource for average people who just want to locate a good doctor, or be warned about a bad one beforehand. The site offers valuable information about physicians in the form of opinions from their patients. It also gives site visitors the opportunity to post their own reviews, good or bad.

RateMDs was co-founded by regular patients who had suffered bad experiences with doctors and were frustrated by not being able to find useful information to help them choose a good doctor. The site organizers are not affiliated with any official medical groups or organizations, so there is no conflict of interest or requirement to abide by any medical authority's regulations. According to the site owners, their purpose in developing RateMDs.com was to provide a resource for people to find out what people think about a doctor, and to tell others what they think. The hope is that by opening up this community of voices, people will be able to find a good doctor, and doctors can read what patients think about them.

The website is ad-supported and free to use. The search utility on the site is extremely user-friendly; you can search for a specific doctor, or search for a specialty to read about all available doctors practicing in your area. If you look for a doctor and his name isn't listed, it means that no one has reported on him yet. The ratings use a 5-point system, with 5 points being the best and 1 point being the worst. The rating of Overall Quality is indicated by the color of smiley face next to the doctor's name. A smiling yellow face is a great rating, a sad blue face is a bad rating.

When it comes to buying a television, if you end up with a lemon you can just buy something else. But when it comes to your health, you can't just keep throwing money at doctors until you find a good one. Picking a doctor from the Yellow Pages is not longer your only option. RateMDs is an excellent source of information that can help patients feel confident before they even make an appointment.